The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Bethesda's monster RPG finally arrives. Is it an epic adventure or new coffee table coaster?

How much free time do you have? It's a legitimate question if you're considering Bethesda's epic The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, as it's likely to engulf whatever tidbits of unoccupied hours permeate your life. It might even start chipping away your daily responsibilities. With over 200 hours of gameplay, Oblivion's depth is nothing short of staggering. However, depth means nothing if it's paired with crippling bugs or frustrating gameplay. Though Oblivion has a few issues, it thankfully avoids any major blunders, making this the best single player role playing experience to come along in years.

To briefly sum up, Oblivion has no multiplayer. It's an entirely offline role playing game, meaning you'll complete quests, level up and progress through a rich storyline. As you grow more powerful you'll acquire better weapons, armor and spells to kill monsters and, if it's your preference, innocents. Oblivion's four Guilds, Mages, Fighters, Thieves, and Dark Brotherhood all have their own unique questlines and provide opportunity for added perks. Designed to be an open-ended experience, Oblivion's biggest draw is its massive world. Set in Cyrodiil, a province of the larger land of Tamriel, practically everything is accessible right from the start. You can head in any direction you like, playing to beat the story, to complete side quests, or wander around fields, mountains and streams exploring at your own pace.

Though the main quest is usually a game's primary draw, that isn't the case here. The game starts out with the world in danger and you're destined to save it. Pretty standard stuff. The largest threats to Cyrodiil are the Oblivion Gates opening up across the land. Flanked by ominous stone columns, these flaming portals are doorways to hellish dungeon settings where better armor and weapons can be found. Which ones you enter is totally up to you, though some are required by quests. While the story missions are great, there's tons of excellent content you'll be missing if you stick strictly to the main plot. The Guilds, for instance, all have epic storylines of their own. There's a gladiatorial Arena in the Imperial City where you can engage in mortal combat with one, two or even three enemies at a time for cash rewards. It's a wonderfully open-ended game, yet also surprisingly focused once you decide what you want to do.

Anyone who played through the previous The Elder Scrolls game, Morrowind, will remember the almost total lack of direction, a feature which turned many off. While in that game that main quest didn't even begin until around 15 hours after starting, Oblivion kicks off with a major plot development and thrusts you immediately into the main adventure. Once given your initial task to restore order to Cyrodiil and shut down the demonic invasion from Oblivion, you'll never have trouble figuring out what to do next.

This is mostly due to the intuitive map and easy to use quest log. Whenever you accept a task to perform or are assigned a duty, an entry is made in your journal. By clicking on the quest you can see a brief description and set it to "active." Any active quest in your log is highlighted on your map screen with an arrow. Red arrows mean you need to pass through a door, green ones mean you're in the right place, and the arrow also pops up on the compass at the bottom of your screen for extra convenience. Unless you're a total masochist, it's a much welcome improvement, making quest objectives and locations much easier to find.

On top of that, you're given the ability to fast travel around Cyrodiil. Every location in the game pops up as an icon on your map. To be eligible for fast traveling, you need to first visit the location on foot, although the major cities are accessible right from the start. After a location has been made fast travel accessible, you can pop open your map, select it, and arrive there instantaneously. Though time still passes when you travel, you don't have to actually spend it hoofing the journey out. If you'd rather walk, that option is always available, but fast traveling effectively eliminates the tedium of fetch quests so prevalent in the RPG genre. On top of that, it's great for when you want to buy specific spells or armor only available in certain cities. With the improvements to the map, journal and travel system, the world of Tamriel just got a lot more user friendly.